What are Soul Reapers?
by Kiku Sakumura
Summary: Well, I wanted to write a story revolving around Bleach somehow, and this is what came out. I don't really like it, since it was such a rush-job, but hey, I'm just aspiring to become an author like everyone else on here. :3
1. Chapter 1

It was a hot Summer day. No School, no nothing. Life seemed pretty good at first, and I thought my Summer would go great. Nothing could ruin it, right? Wrong.

Well, at first, like I said, it was fine. Then some... _"strange"_ occurences began happening around the house. It was like, twelve o'clock at night, and everyone (except me) was in bed. I was on my computer, searching around for some things to do, like doing random quizzes, surveys, things like that.

All of a sudden, Hayley, my little sister, came running into the room, crying and shaking.

"Hitomi, Hitomi!" She cried, leaping into my arms. "Something happened! I'm scared!"

"Whoa, calm down Hayley," I comforted her, hugging her. Once she pulled away, I looked her in the eyes and asked, "Hayley, _what_ happened?"

She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "I saw a _ghost,_" She said, matter-of-factly. "He was mean, too; He threw one of my stuffed dogs across the _room!"_

I snorted at such a ridiculous idea. "A _ghost,_ Hayley? Honestly?"

"Yes," She assured me, her mind set on the whole "ghost" idea. "I know I did. What else threw my doggie across the room?"

Well, I couldn't argue with that.

"Hayley, how 'bout you just sleep with me tonight?" I asked. "I was just about to get in bed anyways."

"O-okay," She responded, nodding. I shut down my computer, climbed in bed with my little seven-year-old sister, and we fell asleep.

But something woke me up about four hours later. I heard a loud _BOOM._ First, I looked around for Hayley; she wasn't there. I looked at the clock for about two seconds, which read _4:32,_ and got up in search of my sister.

"Hayley?" I called seriously. "Hayley? Where are you?"

I was starting to get worried, but I thought calmly. _Maybe she's just in her room,_ I thought, comforting myself. I shook away my insane thoughts of something possibly happening to my little sister, and went into her room.

I sighed in relief at what I saw; nothing was wrong there.

But when I observed further, I noticed that the window was open. But it wasn't naturally opened; it looked like the glass was busted. I looked out, and shrieked at what I saw.

My little sister was struggling to get out of the arms of this giant demon-thing.

"HAYLEY!" I cried, about to jump out the window. But that would've been stupid; we were two stories high. I decided to be smart, and ran downstairs and out the front door.

"HITOMI! HITOMI, HELP ME!" Hayley cried frantically, coughing and crying.

I swallowed hard.

"I'll will!" I sweared. "I have to!"

But I knew I could do nothing. Right when the demon-thing was about to eat her, however, a boy with spiky orange hair jumped down from somewhere, slashed the demon-thing in half, caught my sister, and landed carefully and unscathed.

I didn't even notice my mouth was gaped open until I got self-concious about my looks.

"Hayley!" I ran up to the boy holding her, who gently let her down. I gave her a hug. "Thank God you're okay!"

Then I turned to the boy with spiky orange hair.

"Thanks for saving her," I said, relieved. "You have no idea how much I appreciate it."

"It's what I do," He shrugged. "And no problem."

But then I noticed he was about to take off.

"Wait, you never told me your name," I pointed out.

He looked wistfully over the horizon, like he _needed_ to get back _right then._ But he sighed, and turned back to face me.

"Ichigo. Ichigo Kurosaki," He told me, gripping his ginormous sword behind his back. "And you?"

"Hitomi Wantanabe," I explained. "And this is my little sister, Hayley Wantanabe."

"Nice to meet you. But I really should get going," He sighed. "My family'll be worried."

"Where do you live?" I asked; we were in Karakura Town.

"Around here," He explained. Then, a giant shock came across his face. "Wait – How the hell can you see me?"

"What?" I asked. "What do you mean? You're a person, idiot! That's how!"

"Uhh," He scratched his head. "Do you even know what I am right now...?"

"A human in a bathrobe?" I suggested.

"No, a—wait, _Bathrobe?_" He gave me a baffled expression, then shook his head. "Nevermind. I'm a Soul Reaper."

"_Soul Reaper?"_ I asked doubtfully, crossing my arms. "What the hell is that?"

He heaved a sigh. "This is my soul, basically, and this is my sword. I fight against those things you just saw, and help protect people. That's it in a nutshell."

"How'd you know that one of those things were here?" I asked. "Are you like, always out at night, waiting for them?"

"Actually, no. I have something called a _Hollow Detector,_ and it tells me if there's one nearby."

"Okay, you lost me again. _Hollow?_" I asked idiotically.

"That thing you saw."

"It's called a..._hollow?_"

"Yeah."

"Oh. Okay," I said, shrugging. "So...how old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"I'm fifteen, sixteen in November."

"Cool."

"Hitomi, I'm _sleepy,_" Hayley yawned, holding my hand. "Can we go back to bed now?"

"Hold on, Hayley," I sighed. "Just a few more minutes?"

"Hey, if she's sleepy, you should probably let her sleep," Ichigo said pointedly, like she was _his_ little sister.

"You don't think I know that? I want to know more about Soul Reapers," I sighed. "And I doubt you even have any sisters."

"Two, actually. Yuzu and Karin," He explained. "I know what I'm talking about. And I have to go now, before they and my dad think something's happened to me."

"I wanna know more," I pleaded. "Please?"

I wasn't about to just let him go now, probably never going to see him again. My life was _so_ boring. I wasn't going to let this opprotunity go to waste.

"Later," Ichigo explained, then stifled a yawn. "To tell you the truth, I'm pretty sleepy, too. Just killed a hollow and all?"

"Baby," I snorted, but once he looked angry, I changed the subject. "So um...wait, why haven't I ever seen you in my School?"

"Do you go to Karakura High?" He asked.

"Well duh, idiot, there isn't another one around," I pointed out.

"Just shut up," Ichigo sighed, looking up. "Okay, fine. You probably have, you just don't remember me."

"I think I'd remember someone with such spiky hair like yours," I smirked.

"What's wrong with my hair?" Ichigo frowned grimly.

"Nothing, I was just stating a fact," I shrugged, then yawned.

"You're tired too. Who's the baby now?" Ichigo asked.

"Why you-" I growled. But then, out of nowhere, Ichigo disappeared. "_Hey! _Come back here! I have several more questions for you!"

"Hitomi, can we _please_ just go back to bed?" Hayley whimpered.

I sighed heavily. "_Fine,_" I gave in, picking her up and taking her back in the house.

But before I fell asleep, I just couldn't get my mind off of the whole Soul Reaper-thing.


	2. Chapter 2

When I woke up, I immediately remembered the events that took place just eight hours before. I yawned, stretched, and looked over at my clock; 1:18 PM. Dang, I'd definitely slept in. I looked over my shoulder, and Hayley was gone again, but I knew she was probably around the house.

I got dressed and ran downstairs, and into the kitchen. I saw my mom and Hayley sitting at the table, eating lunch. I'd been hoping for breakfast, but I knew it was hopeless; 1:25 didn't equal _breakfast._

"Good morning," I greeted casually, sitting down and taking a bite of pizza. Mom rose her eyebrows at me.

"_Morning_ isn't the word I would've chosen," She scoffed, then her tone softened. "Did you at least sleep well?"

"Yeah, when I finally _got_ to sleep," I shrugged, finishing my first piece of pizza. "Stayed up late."

"How late, exactly?" Mom asked, on my case now. "I thought you were in bed by at least two."

"Two?" I snorted. "You know I don't go to sleep at _two._ But anyways, around five in the morning I think."

Mom opened her mouth to say something, but obviously decided against it and went to put her and Hayley's dishes away. After I finished, I put mine up, too.

After, I walked over to the door, and put my sneakers on. But right as I opened the door, my annoying mom asked,

"Hitomi? Where are you going?"

"I'm just going to go walking around, maybe go to the Mall," I said. Well, half of it was the truth; I wanted to walk around and try to find that Ichigo guy again, and learn more about this whole "Soul Reaper" thing.

"Okay," Mom said. "Don't stay out too late."

"I won't," I said, twisting the doorknob. "Bye."

I shut the door behind me and ran off in the direction I thought Ichigo might have been.

After thirty minutes of searching, I thought I'd never find him. But finally, I saw a guy's spiky orange hair in a crowd of people at this new place that was opening.

"Oh my gosh, this place is gonna be _awesome,_" A girl with long, burnt-orange hair that stood next to him said, smiling. "It's going to have great food, and probably some cute clothes, too!"

"What is this place?" I asked to no one in particular.

"It's a place that's gonna have lots of random junk," A voice I recognized startled me, and I turned around to see who it was.

Ichigo.

"But I thought you were over there...?" I asked, confused. "How'd you-"

"I walked over here while you weren't looking?" He stated the obvious.

"Oh," I said, feeling like a dumbass. "What kind of 'crap'?"

"Nothing I'm interested in, but Orihime dragged me along," He explained, but I had _no idea_ who Orihime was. "Just stupid clothes and some cafe."

"Orihime?" I asked, confused.

"My friend that was standing next to me," He explained. "Ah, here she comes now."

I turned around to see the girl with long, burnt-orange hair coming at us.

"Hey, Ichigo, who's this?" She asked kindly, smiling at me.

"I'm Hitomi Watanabe," I smiled. "And you are...?"

"Orihime Inoue," She explained, smiling. Then she finally seemed to notice something. "Wait, so you and Ichigo know each other?"

"We met last night when he saved my little sister from a hollow," I explained, wondering why I was doing all the talking. I usually wasn't this much of a chatterbox. I turned to glare at him. "And _then_ he just took off."

"Oh, cool! Is your little sister okay?" She asked, worry in her eyes. I wondered how she could be so caring when she didn't even know who the hell I was. I could never do that.

"Yeah, she's fine," I smiled. "Well, thanks to Ichigo. But anyway. . . ."

"Yeah, so anyways, I think It's about to open, Orihime," Ichigo said, and we both turned around to look; the red ribbon was getting cut.

"Oh my gosh, I gotta get over there!" She said excitedly. Then she calmed down and turned to look at me, smiling. "Well, nice to meet you, Hitomi! Bye-bye!"

"Nice to meet you too," I said, and waved as she and Ichigo ran off.

_Well, I'm not much for meeting people, but I think I actually pulled it off,_ I smirked, pleased with myself.

In the end, I decided to go inside the place, too. It was called _Express Yourself,_ and man were there a _lot_ of people. And I finally understood why; There was a boutique, cafe, Video Game shop, and another clothes shop, but for boys. It was just like a mall, but smaller.

I caught up with Orihime and Ichigo.

"Hey, wait up, guys!" I called, standing beside them.

"Oh, Hitomi again! You decided to do some shopping, too?" Orihime smiled genuinely, but Ichigo just had a slight scowl as he looked ahead, walking. Man, he _really_ didn't like me or something. Or maybe he was just always like that.

"Yeah," I admitted, smiling. I couldn't help but smile when she was being so nice.

"Well, that's cool! We can all go shopping together. Well, Ichigo probably won't go in the boutique with us, but still!"

_To tell you the truth, __**I**__ probably won't even go in the boutique_, I thought to myself, walking next to her. But in the end, I did, and Ichigo split up from us and went into the Video Game shop. I myself wished I could've gone in there instead, being the tomboy I am, but I didn't want to hurt Orihime's feelings.

"Ooh, look at these adorable bows!" Orihime gushed, smiling. Then she turned to me. "I think they'd look great in your hair!"

_Me? Bows? _I thought doubtfully, but said halfheartedly,

"Yeah, maybe. Hey, what about those fingerless gloves?" I asked. Orihime turned to them, and we ran over there, and I was glad she forgot about those bows.

"Ooh, maybe I should get these bubble-gum pink ones, and you could get these violet ones?" She smiled, turning to me.

"Sure," I smiled, putting them on. I actually _did_ like these. Orihime ended up buying about a bajillion bows and other stuff, and I just bought the fingerless gloves. We met up with Ichigo in the cafe.

"Dang, Orihime, did you buy the whole boutique?" Ichigo asked, shaking his head.

"Maybe..." Orihime faked looking guilty, but then started laughing. I laughed too, but not at Orihime; for some odd reason, I laughed at Ichigo's remark.

We ate some croissants, mini doughnuts, and tea/water, and then I made up my mind.

"Orihime, do you think we could go in the video game shop?" I asked hopefully. "I'm sure there's some things you'd like, too."

"Okay, sure," Orihime smiled, but for once _hers_ was halfhearted. Ichigo turned to us.

"I think I'll go back in there, too," He said, then we all three went inside. I bought some games and so did Ichigo, but Orihime didn't.

"I don't own a game system," She'd said.

Finally, after buying some clothes from the clothes shops, we all went outside.

"Well, I guess I should get going," I explained, holding my bags in my hands. "But it was really fun hanging out with you guys."

"Yeah, you too!" Orihime smiled. "Hey, want my number? That way, we can text and call each other and stuff."

"Sure," I shrugged, and we exchanged numbers.

"Want mine Ichigo?" I asked, then immediately felt stupid. That was _so_ wrong.

Ichigo looked puzzled. "Why?"

"Oh, I got Orihime's, so I was just wondering. . . . " I said, my cheeks turning red.

Orihime saved me. "Aww, just give it to her, Ichigo!" She smiled cheerfully.

"Fine," Ichigo snubbed me off, but snatched my phone, dialed in his number, and gave me his phone. I dialed in mine, and handed it back.

"Seeya later, guys," I called, waving at Ichigo and Orihime. Only Orihime waved back.

I got home at around 5:30.

"Mom, Hayley, I'm home," I called, taking my bags up to my room.

"Hi, Hitomi. Where did you go?" Mom asked casually, sitting on the sofa.

"To that new mall. I made two new friends there, too," I explained, coming down again after setting my bags down.

"Two new friends?" She asked, intrigued.

"Yeah, Ichigo and Orihime," I explained. "Well, I've seen Ichigo before, but not Orihime. But Orihime's actually really nice."

"Well, that's good," Mom smiled, and I ran back upstairs.

A couple hours later, I got a text from Orihime.

_Hi, Hitomi, It's Orihime! How're you doing?_ It read.

_Hey, Orihime. I'm fine, how about you?_ I texted back.

_Great! Ichigo went home and so did I, so now I'm just bored at home._ She texted back.

_Cool. Hey, is he always like that? All grumpy, not wanting to enjoy himself?_ I typed. I'd been wondering since last night.

_Yeah, but he's really cool once you get to know him. Don't worry. =D_ She texted back.

_That's good to know. So how long have you two known each other?_ I asked.

_A few years. _She texted back.

_Oh, cool,_ I responded.

_Yeah,_ She texted back.

Well damn, now I couldn't think of anything else to say. I slid my phone shut, and lay on my bed, tired from all the walking I'd did in the new Karakura Mini Mall, "Express Yourself". I don't know why, but for some reason, I slid my phone back open, typed in Ichigo's name, and sent,

_Hey, Ichigo. What's up?_

I felt stupid and hot with embarrassment as soon as I'd did it; He obviously didn't like me, so...why did I text him at all?

What really shocked me was that he texted back.

_Nothing at all. Why?_

'Why'? Why did he ask 'Why'? That was pretty stupid. I texted back,

_Oh, just wondering since I'm bored._

I felt stupid again. But he texted back.

_Well, I'm busy, so stop texting me,_ He replied rudely, yet I didn't see it as rude. I can't believe I didn't realize what was happening. I stopped texting him, put my phone beside me, and sighed.

I had acrush on Ichigo Kurosaki.


End file.
